Cardiovascular problems are the reasons behind the highest number of deaths across the world. As far as India is concerned, the picture is alarming when it comes to calculating the risk of death due to heart attacks and allied cardiovascular problems. India is already set to become the diabetes capital with heart attacks – one of the biggest causes of deaths in the country. Although people are getting aware of such a dreaded scenario, and are moving to reputed centres for CT scan in Jaipur and other parts of the country, a lot needs to be done in this regard.
Experts believe that the risk of heart disease has reached a whole new level after the COVID-19 pandemic as part of the post-pandemic effects. People have successfully recovered from the coronavirus but they are developing heart problems at a rapid pace. Different tests of heart have suggested that the medicines used for corona treatment might be the cause behind the growing number of heart attacks in India. All things considered, the good news is that heart problems are 100% preventive and they can be checked if the affected individual move to any reputed MRI centre in Jaipur or any other part of the country timely on the advice of his or her doctor.
This blog provides you with some of the most practical and proven tips to keep your heart healthy and robust just through a few lifestyle changes:
1. Get active, and go for sufficient physical activities
Physical activities play a pivotal role in keeping your heart always in the best of conditions. Medically speaking, a healthy heart can be considered one that gets exercised regularly. As per the recommendations of the American Heart Association, if an individual wants to maintain good health of his heart, then he should get involved in at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise sessions per week. As for the nature of the exercise, it might be any including swimming, cycling, any specific sports, or simply walking. You need to make sure you are including quality minutes in your exercise regimen. And, most importantly, you need to make it a part of your everyday routine.
2. Keep blood pressure and sugar levels always under control
Blood pressure also known as hypertension and elevated sugar levels are some of the primary chronic problems that can trigger heart ailments. If you visit any hospital for heart surgery, then you will find that more than 75% of individuals being treated for heart problems are also diabetic. The same goes for blood pressure. To tackle both these problems, you need to make so many drastic changes in your lifestyle and go for certain medicines as prescribed by your doctor. You will have to avoid so many things that you are very fond of eating every day while choosing the best possible alternatives. You must remember that both diabetes and blood pressure are still untreatable chronic diseases or disorders. They can only be controlled through lifestyle changes and certain medicines.
3. Enjoy healthy fats and give up unhealthy ones
Despite a large number of awareness campaigns both by the government and private medical establishments concerning good heart health practices, there is no dearth of people who are still clueless about which types of fat they should consume and which ones to discard. There are some drastic differences between healthy and unhealthy fats. Almost all types of foods contain fats, and you must be extremely mindful of what you are eating. Good fats come from nuts, seeds, fish and various other plant-based sources while bad ones come from processed foods.
If you consume good fats, it will reduce your bad cholesterol and triglycerides levels while increasing the amount of good cholesterol. Some fats like omega-3 can be extremely helpful in muscle building too. You need to avoid almost all animal-based fats in your diet and opt for plant-based good fats. What you need to focus on include avocado and olive oil, fish, and nuts.
4. Give up not only smoking but also secondhand smoking
Although smoking has been identified as one of the most detrimental factors for your entire health, the heart might be the easiest victim of it. Various studies have revealed that smoking is the root cause of coronary heart disease which ultimately leads to massive heart attacks. When you continue smoking for a longer duration, a very stout buildup of sticky fatty substances starts developing in your arteries. This buildup acts as a primary contributor to increasing the gravity of different health problems including heart attacks. Secondhand smoke is also very closely linked to a large number of cardiovascular diseases.
5. Say bye to the sedentary lifestyle
A sedentary lifestyle is considered the mother of all diseases. First of all, it strikes imbalances in the proportion of calorie intake and consumption in the body. As a result, you start gaining fat, particularly in the belly area. Experts are of the view that those having excessive fats in the belly region are more prone to developing heart attacks or serious cardiovascular diseases than those who don’t. What is more alarming in this regard is that even if you go for regular exercise at a certain point in time, long bouts of sedentary time can affect your heart health. Some of the most sedentary activities include the following:
• Working on computers for longer durations
• Viewing mobile screen for hours in a day
• Watching television for hours even without eating something
• Getting involved in any kind of job that calls for long sitting hours.
To avoid sedentary periods, steal some time and get active at least for some minutes. Include movement in your daily activities and make it a habit to take frequent breaks, particularly when you have a desk-based job.
Concluding Remarks
Proper heart care is all about what type of lifestyle you are following every day. You can nip every heart problem in the bud only when you get aware of all the aspects of it. In case, you observe something odd or abnormal in the chest area, then keep in touch with your doctor without any delay.